As a young woman in college I heard encouraging words from my professors telling me "It's a different world now for women in (insert appropriate profession here)" and "There is no such thing as a glass ceiling anymore"

What the college professors didn't prepare us for is how rotten some people in the corporate world can be and that not everyone outside of academia has jumped on the equality band wagon.

To make a long story uber short: Some people really suck. And they can turn your joy ride of a life into one hell of a bumpy ride. (At this point I'll leave you to wonder whether I'm going of first hand experience or a compilation of stories from after work girl talk).

I know some of you might be thinking "You're just figuring this out now?" and rolling your eyes, thinking I might be a bit naive. Don't get me wrong. I've always known that the real world is a rough place. But knowing and actually hearing things over cubicle walls, are very different things. Plus, people never cease to amaze me. Just when you think you've seen and heard it all some wing nut comes up with a new and more offensive way of practicing jerk-ism.

In order to put a positive spin on this dreary enlightenment, I'm making a very pointed effort to turn it into inspiration for my writing. Having people that really "hoover at life" is what can make for excellent conflict in a plot.

Flash back to the 1990s and the TV series Ally McBeal. Scenes from the show would depict what the characters would like to do during moments of pissed-off-edness. Whether it be setting someones pants on fire or standing idly by while the watch a volley of arrows sail into their foe's chest. Visualizing these things happening put a smile on their face.

For me, using prose to eviscerate the not so savory people in my life is extremely cathartic and puts a smile on my face in the very same way.

So, I encourage you to use the "everyday idiots" in your life in the same way. Let them help you enrich your writing and create more disslikeable antagonists. And on the bright side, once you get published, you don't have to cut them in on the royalties. ;-)